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Joshi spikes rumours over his resignation

Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi today scotched rumours that he had submitted his resignation to Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on Wednesday and asserted that he enjoyed full confidence of all sections of his party and of his ruling alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party in the state cabinet.

Joshi told reporters in an informal chat in Bombay that the rumours of his resignation were the handiwork of idle minds and reiterated that he would complete his full term as chief minister, for which he enjoyed the blessings of Thackeray.

The chief minister also denied any dissidence against him within his party and while replying to a question asserted that none of the party people or cabinet members from his party or from the BJP had aired any complaints against him. No leader from the BJP had complained about his style of functioning to Thackeray or aired any differences with him.

Senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan today emphatically denied that his party had demanded the ouster of joshi, as the post has been given to the Shiv Sena for the entire term of five years.

Talking to reporters at the BJP state unit headquarters, Mahajan said the 1995 alliance between the BJP and the Sena clearly states that the chief minister would belong to the Sena and the post of deputy chief minister to the BJP who would continue in their posts for five years. ''The BJP respects that accord and there is no question of seeking the ouster of Joshi as chief minister or vice versa. It was the prerogative of the Sena to retain or change the present chief minister."

Mahajan said he met Sena chief Bal Thackeray in the afternoon and clarified to him that his party had not passed any resolution seeking the ouster of Joshi nor had discussed the issue at its meeting in Karnala. The two-day meeting was mainly to evaluate the BJP's performance in the state and chalk out measures to further strengthen the organisation.

The recently elected Rajya Sabha MP, who is also one of the architects of the BJP-Sena alliance in the state, said he met Thackeray before leaving for New Delhi late on Wednesday evening and had appraised him of various decisions taken at the meeting. He said he agreed with Thackeray that internal differences if any in the alliance should not be made public. But, the BJP also expected that its alliance partner should not unnecessarily criticise it without clarifying ''unfounded'' media reports.

UNI

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